132 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
strongly perfumed, though few if any of them can actually be described 
as scentless. ' Mrs. Foley Hobbs/ a grand Rose, is however ex- 
ceedingly sweet. Possibly I shall be told that it is not a pure Tea, 
and here again I may mention ' Gloire de Dijon ' and ' Marechal Niel.' 
Among the Japanese Roses (R. rugosa) ' Conrad F. Meyer ' and 
its white sport ' Nova Zembla ' are very fragrant, apart from other 
desirable qualities which ensure -for them a place in our gardens. 
To these selections I must add some of the hybrids of Wichuraiana 
which, with their trailing habit and suitability for arches and pergolas, 
have so enriched our gardens in recent years. Many of them cannot 
be classed as fragrant, but ' Debutante/ ' Evangeline,' * Gardenia,' 
' Leon tine Gervais,' ' Joseph Billiard,' and * Rene Andre ' are for- 
tunately sweetly scented. 
These lists do not pretend to be complete or inclusive of all the 
Roses which might be mentioned. My purpose is simply to illustrate 
what a wealth of selection is available to lovers of scented Roses, and 
how laments as to absence of scent may be absurdly overdone. 
I am glad to see that Mr. Walter Easlea, who has always devoted 
particular attention to the subject of fragrance in Roses, indicates by 
the letter F in his catalogue Roses which are specially sweetly scented, 
a practice which I think might well be followed by others offering 
Roses for sale. 
In discussing this question of scent in Roses let us not lose a 
sense of proportion. Scent is undoubtedly an admirable and desirable 
attribute. Without it many feel that something is lacking in the Rose. 
But to say that one has no use for a Rose without scent is to overstate 
the case. 
Should we do without ' Caroline Testout,' ' Frau Karl Druschki,' 
' Augustus Hartmann,' ' Melanie Soupert ' (one of the most beautiful 
of Roses), ' Lady Ashtown,' ' Gustave Regis,' ' Red Letter Day,' ' Lady 
Pirrie,' ' Old Gold,' ' Isobel,' and ' Madame Edouard Herriot ' in our 
gardens because scent is deficient or absent ? 
Should we have excluded ' Turner's Crimson Rambler,' that 
wonderful hybrid multiflora which, with the hybrid Wichuraianas 
to follow, gave such an impetus to pillars, arches, and pergolas ? 
Are we to condemn magnificent exhibition Roses, faultless in colour 
and outline, because they do not satisfy exacting requirements in the 
matter of scent? Surely beauty in colour and form is worth appreciation. 
If the Rose is required for bedding purposes in the garden, brightness 
of colouring, freedom and continuity of flowering, good habit and strong 
constitution in the plant must, I think, take precedence of fragrance, 
and in Roses for decorative effects on pillars, arches, and pergolas 
and the like, the question of scent is surely relatively unimportant. 
Let us estimate scent at its true value. It is unquestionably a 
desirable attribute, and of two Roses of equal merit in other respects 
preference should undoubtedly be given to the one with perfume. 
And may I say again that the perfume we most desire is the real 
Rose scent of the Damask and Provence ? 
